The game was originally promoted as a PlayStation exclusive,[2] with Sony initially promoting it as a "Saturn killer" (against Sega's Virtua Fighter),[3] but it was ported to the Saturn with additional features less than a year later. Once fighting games like Tekken started emerging, Battle Arena Toshinden quickly declined in popularity, but still did spawn a series of sequels. It was the first 3D weapons fighter, and was succeeded in spirit by Soul Edge and other games of the genre.

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Each character has his or her own unique set of basic moves, special attacks, and a desperation attack that can only be used when the player has low energy (around 10% or less). The player is able to move in 3D around the 3D arenas using the L/R shoulder buttons, which can be used to dodge projectile attacks, or get away from a dangerous spot.

Players move using the directional pad. Holding the backwards directional button allows the player to block basic attacks and reduces most of the damage from opponents' special moves. Players can also run by quickly tapping the forward directional button.

Eight traveling fighters, brought together by a common destiny, now meet at the Battle Arena Toshinden: a fighting tournament hosted by a mysterious organization known only as the "Secret Society". Many years have passed since this tournament, known only to those in the underworld, was last held. Some fighters have come for personal glory. Others have come to fight for those they love, but all will do their best to be victorious in this tournament which will decide their fortunes.

Eiji Shinjo - The main protagonist of the series. A young Japanese traveling swordsman who seeks to find his long lost older brother, Sho.

Kayin Amoh - A Scottish (later retconned as English) swordsman/bounty hunter who happens to be a friend and rival of Eiji. He seeks to avenge the death of his foster father, who was killed by the previous tournament's champion from last year.

Sofia - A blonde Russian woman who works as a private detective. She seeks to find her lost memory.

Rungo Iron - A strong yet kind-hearted miner who seeks to rescue his wife Lila and his son Christopher from the Secret Society.

Fo Fai - An elderly Chinese magician who doubles as a cold-hearted killer.

Mondo - An emotionless ninja warrior who infiltrates the tournament under orders from a rival group of the Secret Society.

Duke B. Rambert - A chivalrous French knight who seeks to find and defeat Eiji in order to avenge a past loss against him.

Ellis - A cheerful orphaned dancer of a traveling theater troupe who seeks to discover on whether or not her father is still alive.

Gaia - The sponsor of the tournament and boss of the game. His reasons for holding the tournament in the first place is shrouded in mystery. He is later revealed to be the father of Ellis.

Sho Shinjo - The secret final boss of the game. The champion from last year's previous tournament and Eiji's older brother, he is a merciless swordsman who holds nothing back from within the fights that he participates in.

Cupido (Sega Saturn version) - A mysterious woman who speaks with cryptic riddles and messages. Her past is shrouded in mystery and not much is known about her. The "true" final boss in this version.

The original PlayStation version was ported by Nextech/Sega to the Sega Saturn as Toh Shin Den S in Japan and as Battle Arena Toshinden Remix in the United States and Europe. A few new features were added, including an exclusive new character named Cupido and a story mode which enables the player to learn a few details about the characters' story backgrounds and the reasons of why they had entered into the tournament.[4]

Developed by Digital Dialect, the DOS port of the PlayStation version added an exclusive new character, Earthworm Jim, complete with his own unique arena music, but he only uses the moves of Rungo Iron. It also supports resolutions up to 640x480. The PC port uses the Japanese PlayStation version's voices and music in all regions, unlike the original PlayStation version.

The game was also ported to the Game Boy by Takara in 1996, titled Nettou Toshinden in Japan. The game is based mostly on the original PlayStation version, but it includes a slightly altered story mode and an early appearance of the character Uranus and the Battle Arena Toshinden 2 version of Gaia (without his armor).

Battle Arena Toshinden was critically acclaimed when released, and holds an average GameRankings score of 85%. Electric Playground gave the game a perfect score of 10 out of 10 in 1995.[5] On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the PlayStation version of the game a 30 out of 40,[10][18] giving it first a 9 out of 10[11] and later a 10 out of 10 in their Reader Cross Review.[12]

USA-based magazine GamePro reviewed the Japanese version of the game in early 1995 (prior to the PlayStation's launch in the USA). They remarked that the game is very impressive, and superior to Virtua Fighter in some aspects, but also flawed in several respects. They particularly praised the texture-mapped polygon graphics, original fighters, myriad moves, unique style of play, and the sidestep move, commenting that "The only problem with this slick defensive move is that from some viewing angles, the fighters obstruct the front of the screen, making it impossible to see where a move is coming from."[13] Their review of the later USA release was also generally positive; they praised the graphics, stage design, playability, and dynamic camera, but criticized the game for being simplistic and easy, remarking that "This game relies more on flash than fighting." They summarized the game as "an enjoyable fight."[19]

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a rave review, chiefly praising the character design, graphics, and special moves.[8]IGN gave the game a score of 7 out of 10 in 1996, by which time it was seen as slow and "not as impressive" as the more recent Tekken 2, though they praised Toshinden for important innovations to the fighting game genre, such as taking "the fighter into true 3-D" and "one little move" that "changed the fighter forever" with the introduction of sidestep movement.[1]Dragon gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.[7]

Battle Arena Toshinden was awarded Best Fighting Game of 1995 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[17] However, during their 200th issue leadup in 2005, they ranked Battle Arena Toshinden as their single most overrated game. They explained that it "was 3D, it was flashy--Battle Arena Toshinden was exciting and new. But later Namco showed us what really could be done with 3D fighting on the PlayStation (Tekken, Soul Blade). (...) But is it actually good? Oh God, no."[20]

The Sega Saturn version was not as well-received as the PlayStation original. Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the Saturn version a 21 out of 40; they complained of the fact that the graphics were not improved from the PlayStation version, and felt that the game was overshadowed by the recent release of Battle Arena Toshinden 2.[9]Sega Saturn Magazine gave it an 80%. Though they greatly praised the visuals of the game and judged the button configuration to be superior to that of the PlayStation version, they criticized the "slow" gameplay and the limited variety of moves, concluding that Battle Arena Toshinden is "still decent enough, but ... lacks the speed and depth of its more illustrious successors."[16]

A new Tōshinden(闘真伝?) game was unveiled in Weekly Famitsu in 2008. It was developed by DreamFactory[21] for the Wii and as of this post has no connection to the previous games storywise. It is known as War Budokai, roughly translated as War Tournament. While the past Toshinden installments have featured mainly weapons-based combat, War Budokai will feature hand-to-hand combat alongside the weapons-based battles. A total of 8 characters have been unveiled in official illustrations.[22][23] The game was released in Japan on December 10, 2009.